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Brazil's northern city of Manaus has become a sprawling city of some 2 million people. The city is also in the frontline of Latin America's war on drug trafficking — a conflict involving police, traffickers and their rivals.

David Greene talks to Jaime Contreras of the Service Employees International Union about how the shutdown is affecting security guards and custodians, who are contractors working in federal buildings.

Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'" came out in 1963 as the country was entering a tumultuous time. Both the civil rights and antiwar movements embraced it as an anthem of protest.

For Annie Clark, the guitar is not an appendage, not an extension of the body. It is its own body with its own voice. She doesn't use it to embellish her songs; she uses it to build worlds.

The Senate race between GOP incumbent Sen. Dean Heller and Democratic challenger Rep. Jacky Rosen, is one to watch this November. Appealing to the Latino vote will be crucial to whoever wins.

E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and the Brookings Institution, and Margaret Hoover, host of PBS's Firing Line, join NPR's Mary Louise Kelly to discuss immigration issues playing out in the midterm elections. Also, the administration's response to Saudi Arabia's alleged role in the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Photographer Colin Legg makes time-lapse movies of celestial scenes, from auroras to eclipses. Photographing mostly in remote parts of Australia, where human-made light doesn't compete with starlight, Legg describes some of the challenges of this type of photography: from babysitting cameras for days and nights on end to running electronics in the backcountry.

You may not know that the traffic signal, the firehouse pole, and instant coffee were all invented by people of color. The stories behind those inventions and many more are included in the new book, Mad Science. Editor Randy Alfred speaks with guest host Celeste Headlee.

Diana Vreeland had a troubled childhood; her mother often told her she was ugly. But she later became editor-in-chief of American Vogue and one of the country's most revered fashion icons. Her life is captured in the new biography, Empress of Fashion: A Life of Diana Vreeland. Host Michel Martin talks with author Amanda Mackenzie Stuart.

Mariner 2's 1962 mission to Venus was the first time any spacecraft had gone to another planet. Before the mission, very little was known about the planets, and much of what was believed to be true turned out to be wrong.

If the government goes over the "fiscal cliff," millions of households could see tax increases because of an obscure part of the tax code, known as the alternative minimum tax. Host Michel Martin talks with NPR Business Editor Marilyn Geewax about exactly what could happen and who would be affected.

A U.N. report says North Korea has more food than in previous years. But North Koreans who spoke to NPR say conditions are still dire. Food has become too expensive for many North Koreans, and people are dying of hunger, they say.

The latest Medal of Honor will be awarded on Monday to former Army Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha for his actions during 12-hour firefight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Steve Inskeep talks to CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper, who told the story of the battle in his recent book, The Outpost.

Two days after President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, the president of the National Congress of American Indians held his own address about how tribes across the country are faring. Host Michel Martin speaks with Jacqueline Pata, the group's executive director, to learn more about this year's priorities for Indian Country.

On its surface, the case is about whether farmers can use seeds derived from patented crops. But the bigger question is, how much control does a company have over its patented products once they're in the hands of consumers?

Congress passed an emergency aid package for Superstorm Sandy victims earlier this week. But three months after the storm, many hard-hit neighborhoods are still suffering. Host Michel Martin checks back with Monsignor John Brown of St. Francis de Sales in Rockaway, Queens, to discuss how the community is recovering.

The Harlem Shake can be called many things — a rewriting of history, theft, a cultural bridge — but it's not the first time a dance craze has taken the world by storm. About a century ago, nearly the same thing happened.

Obama's path to capturing Virginia again remains far from certain in a dead-heat race with Mitt Romney, whose White House dreams rely heavily on securing the state's 13 electoral votes. And the state's race between two well-regarded former governors could determine control of the U.S. Senate.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency released more than 200 pages of documents in its case against the cyclist.

Simon Cho says he tampered with another racer's skates at the World Short Track Team Championships last year after being pressured by his coach. The coach, Jae Su Chun, denies the claims.